Legal Question in Traffic Law in Illinois
I am a relocation tow operator. The law states that when I hook a vehicle, I can not leave the property before securing (straps on wheels) ect.. about a week ago, I was patrolling a parking lot and had 2 guys throw eggs at my truck. Last night, I went to that lot to patrol and saw 2 similar guys that threw the eggs. I hooked a car and before securing the vehicle I left the property, drove roughly 50 feet on a public road and turned into another parking lot to secure vehicle. A police officer saw me and pulled up and gave me a 120 dollar ticket for an unsecured load. I explained the issue with the eggs and told him I had dated pictures of the eggs but he just wrote the ticket. My question is- should i go to court and explain that I left the property, for my safety? Or should I just pay the ticket.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You can try but there's no guaranty and a judge may have the discretion to order supervision and then avoid a recorded conviction, but technically it's a violation, and as a tow truck driver the judge might just go the other way because tow truck drivers do have additional safety responsibilities. Here's an example: there was a recent situation of a driver whose passenger reported feeling chest pains, the driver was near a hospital, so the driver started speeding toward the hospital, which attracted a police officer, who stopped the car. While the officer quickly assessed the situation and gave the driver an escort to the hospital, the driver was ticketed on arrival at the hospital when the passenger was safely taken in. The law in Illinois is that you are NOT allowed to break the law because even if well-meaning, it places you as the driver, your passengers, and others using the roads (both vehicles and pedestrians) in danger. In your situation the answer would have been to secured your vehicle and called the police first.
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